Cash Crunch Hits Private Firms After Gov’t Forex Subsidies Ebb

Private companies have been complaining that the government apparently failed to anticipate the challenges manufacturing units would face after it ended the policy of allocating subsidized currency for import. 
On May 10 the government officially put an end to forex subsidies at the rate of 42,000 rials per dollar, locally known as preferential foreign currency, to importers of food and essential goods, namely corn, soymeal, unprocessed oil, oilseeds and barley, in addition to wheat, flour and medicine. 
Most private businesses welcomed the move but criticized the government for “ignoring the challenges manufactures would face” in the aftermath.  
Hassan Forouzan Fard, a member of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) said that manufactures are grappling with lack of liquidity, declining demand and high production costs. 
“After scrapping the preferential currency, the government should create funding mechanisms via banks at least in the short-term to help producers meet their funding needs,” he was quoted as saying by the ICCIMA website.